Cattle-guard.



PATENTBD NOV. 15, 1904.

J. F. & F. H. WOODIN.

CATTLE GUARD.

APPLIOATIOH FILED AUG. 1s, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

A, :mmm-uu IHIIVIIIII" "llllllllllllllllllll flln ATTO N fleuren STATES PATENT Patented November 15, 1904.

FFICE@ JOHN FOSTER W'OODIN AND FOSTER .HARTMAN W OODIN, OF LEXA. ARK A NSAS.

CATTLE-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,231, dated November 15, 1904.

Application filed August 13, 1904. Serial No. 220,639. lNc modela To @ZZ when it 'n1/(ny concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN FOSTER WOODIN and FOsTF. u H Anruax lVooDIN, citizens ofthe United States, and residents of Lexa, in the county of Phillips and State of Arkansas, have invented a new and Improved Cattle-Guard, of which the following' is afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to cattle-guards for railroads, and has for its object to provide novel details of construction that afford a cattle-guard which is very simple, durable, easy to place in position and remove, and that very effectively guards a railroad-track against the travel thereover of horses, cattle, or other beasts in either direction.

The invention consistsin the novel construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described, and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved cattle-guard in position on a railroad. Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view substantially on the line 2 Q in Fig. 3, and Fig. is a longitudinal sectional view substantially on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2.

The road-bed 5 is graded and ballasted, as usual. Cross-ties 6, that support the trackrails T. are disposed transversely on the roadbed and are equally spaced apart a proper distance at a point where the cattle-guard is lo- Cafcd.

Between adjacent sides of the preferably rectangular-bodied cross-ties 6 a V-shaped metal trough 8 is embedded in the road-bed, and two or more of such troughs may be employed and located in sequence, as may be found expedient. The troughs 8 are of such dimensions as adapts them to extend at their ends exterior to the road-bed, so that proper drainage of water therefrom may be effected, and as a protection against rust a suitable coating is applied upon the outer and inner surfaces of the troughs.

'lhe side edges of the troughs 8 are secured by any suitable means in contact with the opposed and parallel sides ofl two cross-ties (S, as indicated at a in Fig. 2. Upon the outer sides of each trough b reinforcing-strips of wooden planks or scantling 9, having proper width and thickness, are secured. 'lhese strips are of a length equal to that of the troughs 8 and are positioned oppositely on each trough at a proper distance above the bottom thereof.

,ln each trough a number of spaced braces l() are secured nearly opposite the reinforcingpieces 9, and said braces may be tapered or given wedge form from their lower edges to their upper edges, as appears in Fig. 2, the number of' said braces being su'flicient to confer necessary support to the plate-metal troughs against side pressure of the road-bed material thereon.

To preserve the parallelism of' the cross-ties 6, whereon the edge portions of -the troughs 8 are secured, stringers of timber, such as are indicated at ll 1l, may be secured upon the ends of the cross-ties, these stringers affording stability to the ties and troughs between them. The spaces between the track-rails T and at their sides on upper surfaces of' the cross-ties 6 are covered by cap-blocks l2, which are triangular in cross-section and have one of their angles projected upward, said capblocks when secured in place preventing cattle from getting' foothold, and as the inclined sides of the cap-blocks are nearly in the same planes with the sides of the troughs 8 it will be seen that a beast attempting to walk upon the railroad at a cattle-guard of the described construction will fail to get support and will slip with its fore feet and legs down into the adjacent trough 8. The depth given the troughs 8 will prevent an animal, such as a cow or horse, from taking an onward step after entering a trough S, so that a single animal or a number of cattle will be effectively stopped from passing over the cattle-guard.

Owing to the simplicity of construction and the relative position given to the improved cattle-guard, it may be moved from one point on a railroad to another and be readily placed in position without requiring any material change in the road-bed other than to excavate trenches for the reception of the troughs 8.

It is also a feature of advantage that the inclination given to the sides of the troughs 8 correspondingly increases the area of contact with the road-bed, also insuring stability When in position.

The troughs 8 may be cast into form, be made of plate metal, or, if preferred, may be formed of Wooden planks rendered Waterproof by any suitable means, and it Will be obvious that if the troughs are formed of material thick enough and having sufficient rigidity to resist lateral pressure the reinforcing-pieces of scantling 9 and the braces l() may be dispensed With, so that we do not limit the scope of our invention to the imperative use of these adjunctive features of construction.

Having thus described our. invention, We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. A cattle-guard comprising a V-shaped trough, a plurality of reinforcing-strips secured longitudinally on the exterior surfaces of the inclined sides of the trough, the trough and strips being embedded between adjacent cross-ties of a railroad, and slope-sided capblocks mounted on said ties, their sloped sides nearly conforming in inclination With that of the inclined Walls of the trough.

2. A cattle-guard comprising a plurality of V-shaped metal troughs, reinforcing-strips secured longitudinally on exterior surfacesv JOHN FOSTER VOODIN. FOSTER HARTMAN VOODIN.

Witnesses:

GEO. WALKER, N. F. BRUCE. 

